Thursday, 28 November 2013 00:00
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
South Asia’s first CFL recycling plant certified to ISO standards
Asia’s first CFL recycling plant has got ISO certification. This standards certification is unique, since this is the first time it has been given to a company for the proper disposal of mercury.
Mercury in our domestic CFL bulbs is a great concern to environmentalists as it can cause irreparable damage to our ecosystem; however there does not seem to be much public knowledge on the issue. Careless disposal of used CFL bulbs, which contain mercury, can become a veritable time bomb in the long-term, adversely impacting not only the present, but also future generations.
Asia Recycling
Asia Recycling, a company set up by Orel Corporation, designed and built a CFL recycling plant last year to cater to the millions of bulbs that have to be disposed safely instead of being spewed out to garbage dumps as is the normal practice by most users.
The Asia Recycling plant was set up in collaboration with Nordic Recycling AB of Sweden, a world pioneer on the green technology front. Kushan Kodithuwakku, Managing Director of Orel Corporation, said that the company set up the US$ 500,000 plant, recognising the danger their product posed to the environment and considered it their responsibility to do everything possible to mitigate any possible damage.
He said: “The plant has the capacity to recycle up to 30,000,000 bulbs per annum, which is nearly three times bigger than the annual usage of CFL bulbs in Sri Lanka. In order to encourage proper disposal of these bulbs we give a discount for any brand of CFL bulb that is returned to the vendor when consumers are purchasing our bulbs. We are also open for other CFL manufacturers to use our plant. Even then the quantity of returned bulbs to be disposed at the plant is only 10% of the quantity used. Therefore, building awareness is an ongoing process, and we would actually like to help the entire region to manage the mercury problem in any way we can.”
Asia Recycling’s Quality & Environmental Management Systems have been certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards by DNV Business Assurance Lanka Ltd., a premier certification body for accredited management systems certifications to ISO and other standards.
A new experience
K. Vetriselvam, Location Head for DNV Business Assurance Lanka (Pvt) Ltd., who presented the certificates to Asia Recycling at the Orel Corporation Head Office in Navinna, said that the certification of a CFL recycling plant was a new experience for his organisation.
He added: “This certification is of particular interest to me and my organisation as it is in line with DNV’s business strategy to promote sustainability in everything we do, so as to ensure that we retain a clean and safe environment for future generations. Being the first CFL recycling plant in South Asia, it was a challenge to identify the underlying legislative, statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to the CFL recycling process and storage and handling of mercury. “We had to adopt a multipronged approach for the same – drawing references from Sri Lanka’s CEA Requirements, United States’ EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Documents, United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Basel Convention Technical Guidelines, European Community (EC)’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE), etc. At the outset, we are glad to be associated with Asia Recycling in this journey; for a larger cause.”
Effective environmental management
The ISO 14001:2004 maps out a framework that a company or organisation can follow to set up an effective environmental management system. It can be used to provide assurance to an organisation’s management and employees as well as external stakeholders that environmental impact is being measured and improved. The ISO 9001:2008 addresses the various aspects of quality management to ensure that the organisation’s products and services meet customer needs and expectations consistently and that quality is consistently improved.
“These two ISO certifications cover a wide perspective and the Asia Recycling Plant has proven itself as having a holistic and comprehensive approach towards quality and environmental management,” said Indika Weeraratne, Senior Manager – Business Excellence, Orel Corporation.
